Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Priest Kicks Off Census With Visit To County

Every person counts.

This is more than a moral statement. In fact, every single person counts more now than ever before because it's time for the census count.

Those not counted results in the loss of potential revenue for Nevada County, and miscount also tend to skew the data gathered by the survey.

Sharon Priest, Arkansas Secretary of State, was here Wednesday, Feb. 16, reminding the public how important an accurate census count really is.

When the census was last taken in 1990 Arkansas's population was officially set at 2,350,725, while Nevada County's population was 10,101.

However, their census was undercounted nationwide. The state was shorted 41,871, while the county wasn't credited for 180 people.

Now, this doesn't sound like a big deal, but the end result was a loss in revenue to the state in the amount of $280,016,640, while Nevada County lost $1,204,200.

This money could have been used to help improve the county's roads, Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown said.

Children 17 and under were the ones primarily missed in the 1990 count. In the county, some 124 children were not counted on the census, while 56 adults were overlooked.

In addition, when the 1990 census was taken, only 65 percent of the surveys were returned in Arkansas and 66 percent nationally.

Priest compared this to burning money, as she performed a magic trick in which a $20 bill was burned, then magically reappeared.

The census, she said, helps provide records for genealogical research and shows what an area needs.

Personal information given in the census survey is kept confidential for 72 years. Priest said even the federal government doesn't have access to this data.

However, other information is public record and used extensively. Census details are used by communities when planning to build hospitals and housing.

This information is used to help learn how many people are displaced in times of disasters.

In 1999, she said, there was a record 107 tornadoes in Arkansas. Census information is used to show how many people were affected so they can receive the proper assistance.

In fact, she said, census information is used to help determine the possible spread of disease. According to Priest, the figures help the Arkansas Department of Health predict the spread of flu, where it will hit, how many people will get it and how much medicine should be obtained to combat it.

Census data, she continued, is also important in the area of economic development. The figures provide information such as available labor sources and their education level to prospective businesses and industries.

Additionally, the population count is used to determine a state's political representation on the federal level. Arkansas, she said, is expected to add 200,000 to 300,000 people to its population base under the 2000 census.

While this isn't enough to give the state a fifth congressional district, it does help on the state level for its House and Senate divisions.

But, she said, the basic fact is each person missed in the census count means about $700 each a year the state doesn't receive federal funding for. Yet, Priest continued, the state is still responsible for providing services for these people.

Allen Green, with the Little Rock bureau of the Census Department, has met with Brown and the Nevada County Quorum Court to let them know how important the census is.

He said the survey forms should arrive at people's homes through the mail in about 30 days.

But, Green added, the work on gathering addresses for the census began about 18 months ago, when people went around and prepared lists of addresses in the county.

Once the lists were compiled, they were checked by Brown and the various mayors in the county to make sure they were accurate.

Green pointed out there can be no challenge to this year's census, because the law was changed after the 1990 census was challenged by many communities.

The address lists compiled, he said, will be sent to Washington, D.C., where the forms will be mailed from.

The census bureau, he continued, is address driven, not name driven.

The census surveys should be completed by the head of the household, once they arrive in the mail.

Then, Green said, once its filled out, send it back.

Mara Young, who works with Priest, said illegal aliens also need to complete census forms as there is no penalty involved.

The forms have no names, nor do they ask whether those filling them out are legal residents of the U.S.

However, about one in six people will get a different survey form. Green said two forms will be sent out, one being a short form with about seven questions, and the other being a long form asking for more information.

Priest suggested the county develop a complete count committee to make sure each address gets a census form, fills it out and sends it back.

Mayors, she said, can call the Pine Bluff office after the surveys have been done to get an idea of the count and see how accurate it is.

All census forms, Priest said, are bar coded and counted as they arrived.

Green pointed out the forms are mailed to addresses and not names.

Should anyone receive two forms, he said, one should be discarded with the other filled out.

"The census is a snapshot in time," Priest said. "Where you are when the form comes is where you're counted."

Because of this, prisoners will be counted in prisons, while those in the military will be counted on their base, and college students will be counted where they are going to school.

"If you know of someone who may be missed," Brown said, "make sure they get counted. Each person means money to the cities and county."